INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY IN INDIA: OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES AND LESSONS FROM INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE 12 th - 13 th May, 2016 ; India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India From informal to providers: a São Paulo State perspective for waste pickers at Brazilian Solid Waste Policy Flávio de Miranda Ribeiro Technical Advisor, Vice Presidency CETESB - Sao Paulo State Environmental Agency
Brazilian and Sao Paulo Solid Waste Policy National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS): enacted in 2010 Establish new principles, roles and responsibilities including EPR; Responsibility is shared within importers, producers, distributor and retailers; Legal obligation for many products and packaging; Implemented through Sectorial Agreement (Federal), Terms of Commitment or regulation; Since PNRS enactment, great challenges to implement; São Paulo State Solid Waste Policy (PERS): enacted in 2006 2011: Decision to accelarate EPR implementation - 2 Phases strategy; Phase 1 (August 2011- December 2014): Dialog with industry/ Pilot Projects Results (2015):~13,000 Collection Points / ~350,000 tons/year collected Phase 2 (January 2015 ongoing): EPR as environmental permitting requirement;
Waste Pickers: who they are, what they do Waste Picker definition: low income person which dedicates to activities of recyclable material collection, sorting, processing, transformation and commercialization Refers to different situations: People picking things at open-air dumping sites People pushing cars collecting recyclables at street People working at recyclables sorting plant Should be banished! Should be replaced by vehicles Should be formalized Work predominantly in urban areas, collecting and sorting material; Other possibilities of collection: great generators, retailers, events, etc;
Waste Pickers: who they are, what they do There is a labor division within the cooperatives: OPERATIONAL WORKERS COLLECTORS (or pickers) With or without fixed collection points SEPARATORS OFFICE ASSOCIATES
Waste Pickers at Solid Waste Policy Estimation of 400 to 500 thousand waste pickers in Brazil; Majority works informally from 1989, organized in cooperatives (1,175 in 2008); Very important role at waste economy: Responsible for 90% of Brazilian MSW recycling; 2013: US$5.5 billion saving in recycling; Brazil: the first country to create a policy that is inclusive for waste picker PNRS require their inclusion- they are expected to be key elements for packaging EPR; Municipalities should promote waste pickers inclusion at their waste plans; Private EPR system (specifically packaging) should include waste pickers; Nov. 2015: Federal Agreement on Packaging EPR was signed Phase 1: 24 months durations 12 cities; support to cooperatives infra-structure and training; collection point at retailers; Target to sort and recycle 3,815 t/ day of packaging (20% recovery), until 2018; Phase 2: extend the system to other cities, to be defined; São Paulo State: negotiating more ambitious models and targets;
Case Study 1: Cooperatives structuring Dê a Mão pra o Futuro Project Iniciative from cosmetic, healthcare and cleaning products industry; Model alligned with the Federal EPR Agreement for Packaging; Supply equipment, software, trainning, etc; Results in Sao Paulo (2012-2015): Support to 40 cooperatives in 35 cities; Inclusion of 1,400 waste pickers; Sorting of ~3,500 t/month (Jan./ 2015); Sorting amounts over time:
Case Study 2: Cooperatives contract Ourinhos City (cooperatives contracts with municipalities) Alternative model tendency already adopted in some regions Municipality hires cooperatives, through a one year service contract, including: Waste pickers: door-to-door collection of recyclables, transportation and sorting Tracking through a municipal register of waste pickers City Council provides infra-structure and support (vehicles, equipment, electricity, etc) Payment of US$ 157,15/ t (maximum of 155 t/month) Results (2015): Cooperative (85 person- 74 women) operated before at the open-air dumping site Improvement of revenue value after pre-treatment- ex: paper, from 0.05 to 0.14 US$/kg Average income for waste pickers: US$ 500/ month
WEEE management in Brazil Brazil: 5 th market for EEE estimation of 600,000 t/ year of WEEE; 30% of new EEE are illegal; Culture of reuse / donation- no dedicated structure to collect WEEE; High level of informal sector, inadequate environmental practices; Some voluntary programs operating; Some waste pickers cooperatives started to deal with WEEE: As collecting points, sorting WEEE; and conducting pre-treatment (dismantling), eventually. CETESB: decided that WEEE dismantling needs environmental permits; But most cooperatives are not prepared to deal with WEEE;
Case Study 3: WEEE management by Cooperatives COOPERMITI Waste picker cooperative dedicated to WEEE management business like operation; Founded in 2008 contract with SP City Council in 2010; Contract with many enterprises (banks, TI companies, retailers, etc); Capacity: 100 t/month operating at 30%; Average income of waste pickers: ~US$ 430/ month (2014); OBS: they do not like to be called waste pickers (stigma of dirty job )
Conclusions: lessons and challenges Waste pickers are a fundamental actor at Brazilian recycling scheme But most works informally - municipality should be a key actor, within a regional framework (State level regulation can help EPR implementation) Need to: Assume social inclusion as an Public Policy objective Promote an effort to organization and regularization/ register in cooperatives The intrinsic value of material are not enough to promote social inclusion Social inclusion is a separate objective than increase recycling (but they can cooperate) Need to: Discuss and implement EPR financing Facilitate the direct sales to industry, avoiding intermediaries (scrap yards, generally illegal, actually buys 54% of recycled material) Most cooperatives does not have sufficient conditions to deal with WEEE Environmental permit is indispensable for dismantling (and afterwards); Need to: Training, equipment, technical support, etc; Care with price volatility! (shortly shredding will be more profitable than dismantling); Waste pickers need to be part of the systems, but officially and supported
Flávio Ribeiro Technical Advisor CETESB Sao Paulo State Environmental Agency fribeiro@sp.gov.br
Brazilian Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Management Federal Constitution (1988): it is up to municipalities organize and provide for, directly or by means of concession or permission, the public services of local interest - including MSW; Generation 215,297 ton/day (1.062 kg/ inhab.day) Collection 195,233 ton/ day Landfill 113,975 t/day (58.4%) not collected 20,064 ton/ day- ~20% Improper disposal 81,258 t/day (41.6%) ~60% of municipalities Low MSW recycling rates: 1,962 municipalities (35.2%) does not have any programe; But impressive rates for some materials (aluminum cans 98.3%; PET bottles 58.9%); Up to 2010 EPR only for tires, lubricant oil, agrochemical packaging and bateries; Waste Pickers take part of 51% of the existent municipal initiatives;